Perhaps you’ve worn your old t shirts completely threadbare, or you have a huge number of wholesale t shirts leftover from events over the summer. While donating these shirts can be great, you can also give them new life in your home by repurposing them into various household items– functional or decorative alike.
Make a shag carpet.
You can turn your old t shirts into a nice rag rug. A number of sites have instructions on how to put this together, and depending on how much labor you want to put into it, you can make a simple rug or a time consuming one. The basic gist of it is this:
- Cut up your old t-shirts into lots and lots of 1 inch x 5 inch strips.
- Get an XL t shirt perforated with holes or a non-skid rug mat.
- Thread the strips through the holes until the rug is as thick as is desired.
- Enjoy your new rug!
Turn an old t shirt into a cute scarf.
- Cut off the hem of your t shirt.
- Cut the body of the shirt into strips 3/4 of an inch wide to create a number of loops.
- Stack the loops on top of each other so that the t shirt seams are in the same spot.
- When the scarf is as thick as you’d like, wrap all the loops together with a scrap of fabric wound over the t shirt seams.
Have some spare sleeves? Make headbands.
- Cut off the sleeves of your t shirt
- Cut the straight part of the sleeves above the hem but below the shoulder into a band about 1 1/2 inches wide.
- Decorate with buttons or flowers.
Turn your old t shirt into a tote.
- Cut the sleeves off your t-shirt but leave the seams in place.
- Cut a large semicircle around the neck of the shirt to make a large opening.
- Sew the bottom of the shirt closed twice. (Do this inside out to make the seam pretty.)
Make wall art out of tie dyed or graphic t shirts.
- Cut off the back of the t shirt
- Get a square of styrofoam and center the design on the front of the shirt over the center of the square.
- With a hot glue gun, glue parts of the shirt that hang over to the back of the square.
- Mount on the wall.
If you’d like to try your hands at a more difficult project, you can also consider turning your old t shirts into aprons, quilts, or even baby pants.
